In a motorcycle or the like, various couplers are connected to the wires through which electrical components are connected, as shown in FIG. 1. In repairing or replacing the electrical components, the couplers are separated into two parts.
Therefore, in order to prevent the erroneous joining of a mismatched pair of couplers, it is necessary to provide a number of couplers of different dimensions and sizes. With advanced automation, the number of electrical components employed is increased and the number of types of couplers needed is also increased; that is, the cost of vehicle wiring is increased.
In the conventional method, one coupler is required for each electrical component. Therefore, as the number of electrical components used is increased, the number of wires and couplers to be used is increased, and accordingly time and labor are unavoidably increased.
This invention also relates to a device for wiring electrical elements at the front of a motorcycle or the like.
A head light unit, a blinker unit, a horn and a meter unit are installed at the front of a motorcycle. These electrical devices require electrical wiring. While the electrical devices are at the front of the bike, the battery is installed, for instance, at the middle thereof. Since the electrical device must be connected through harnesses to the battery, it is necessary to use a number of harnesses, and the wiring of the electrical devices is unavoidably intricate. Even if a concentrated harness is extended to near the electrical devices, it is necessary to extend the wires of the harness to the electrical devices, and accordingly wiring around the handlebar is rather complicated. As switches for the above-described electrical devices are provided on the handlebar, it is necessary to connect the switches to the respective electrical devices using the harness or harnesses. As the harnesses are connected by means of couplers, the wiring is more complicated. Thus, the conventional method is not desirable with respect to external appearance or harness installation.
In order to overcome the above-described drawbacks, a method has been proposed in which couplers are collectively arranged, so that harnesses can be collectively connected. In the conventional method, couplers are arranged collectively in the head light casing. That is, the method utilizes the space in the head light casing. Accordingly, the external appearance and design of the head light casing are limited. Thus, the conventional method is not preferable in that the degree of freedom in selecting the design of the head light, which is one of the important factors determining the external appearance of the motor bicycle, is limited. Furthermore, the wires of the various devices such as the speedometer, tachometer, sensors, blinker display elements and other display elements in the meter unit are led into the head light casing, and more wires are led out of the head light casing. Thus, it has been required to improve the conventional method from the point of view of the external appearance.
Additionally, a number of fuses are normally employed, inserted in the circuits of the electrical devices, and are provided for the electrical devices, respectively. Irregular arrangement of these fuses is disadvantageous in maintenance. The fuses should be arranged collectively. In addition, in cases where it is necessary to provide electrical elements such as blinker relays, diodes and ICs in addition to the fuses, a collective arrangement of them is desirable from a maintenance standpoint.